Friday, November 18, 2016

Kickstart your weekend!

We're excited to present these 4 new packs to you, produced by Vherbal for Retronyms! Boom Bap All Stars, Cypher Sounds, Rap Genius, and Street Philosophy are now available in the Content Store! These sounds are inspired by the old-school 90’s, East Coast, New York sounds of hip hop. These Hook-optimized packs features slick scratches, melodic strings, smooth drums and more! Emulate the hip hop greatest with these sounds today!

We got a chance to talk with Vherbal about what inspires him to create, equipment he uses, and more!

Retronyms: Who are your biggest influences when you’re creating music?Vherbal: I basically live music, from when I wake up to when I sleep - 95% of my life is things pertaining to music. Hip hop is my primary language, but I'm able to carry a conversation in most genres. Initially, it was Dr. Dre that really inspired me. The chronic, doggstyle...the Death Row era. That led me into Tupac...then Wu Tang, etc. Basically the Golden Age of hip hop. The music was very grand and epic - it gave me goosebumps.

R:How did you get involved in producing music? Who got you started?

V: After a few years of rapping on b-side cassette instrumentals from around 96-98, I remember my Uncle Mark had this big yamaha keyboard at his house. I asked him if I could borrow it and after messing with it, I begged my father to get me a keyboard for Christmas. It was the perfect gift...literally. He got me an ugly blue Yamaha DJX from Best Buy. It had a sampler, granted it was only like 2 seconds, but i would sample things in hi-speed and reduce the pitch to cheat the system. Once I had made my first cd, my life changed forever.

R: We believe that music has the power to connect people. How do you use your music as a tool for connection?V: One thing I always try to do is convey an emotion with each beat I make. I love that I can convey emotions with just beats. Without saying a word, people can feel the emotion I was feeling and that is a wonderful thing. I love to inspire people with my beats to go above and beyond what they ever thought they were capable of as artists.R: How do you define your sound?V: Organic. I enjoy real instruments like guitars, brass, strings, electric and acoustic pianos. Dynamic fluctuations, strumming, human timing inconsistencies are all wonderful things that happen in real life when recording real instruments. I try not to quantize. I play everything live on the board or actual instrument in real time - no clicking of boxes or piano rolls. Nothing is ever perfect, but thats how I like it. Human and organic.

In other news...

ICYMI: We released an iMproved version of iMini this week. We're celebrating with an extended winter sale, which lasts through December 15th!